Penn National Gaming Releases Project Details for Hollywood Casino, Harvey

- Country’s Largest Regional Operator Offers Louisiana Gaming Board $75 Million Escrow Account for Riverboat Casino Project -

WYOMISSING, Pa. & BATON ROUGE, La.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Officials from Penn National Gaming, Inc. revealed details of their proposed casino to Louisiana’s Gaming Control Board today in Baton Rouge. In addition to a first class gaming vessel to be located along the Harvey Canal in Jefferson Parish, the Company offered to fund a $75 million escrow account to demonstrate their commitment to the project.

“Beyond our undeniable success as one of the country’s foremost casino developers and operators, we felt it was important for us to demonstrate to the Board our financial strength to actually get the project done,” noted Penn National Gaming Chairman and CEO, Peter Carlino. “The past three years have been tough on the gaming industry and obtaining financing remains an obstacle for most new casino projects. Penn National wanted to demonstrate to the Board as well as to the residents of Jefferson Parish that we can and we will build if granted Louisiana’s 15^th license.”

Penn National is one of three applicants competing for the 15^th license. The project’s nearly $150 million investment will include up to 1,500 slots machines, 44 table games (including a 10 table poker room), parking garage, an upscale buffet and steakhouse as well as other food and beverage offerings and a multipurpose room. Penn National’s proposed second phase would be an additional $155 million investment that includes a 250-room hotel, an additional parking garage and a dedicated entertainment showroom and a pedestrian skywalk that would connect these additional amenities to the riverboat over Peters Road.

“We appreciate the positive response we’ve received from organizations and leaders of Jefferson Parish and are excited at the prospect of being their newest business partner. We believe we have the strongest plan and the strongest balance sheet to execute this project,” continued Mr. Carlino.

Hollywood Casino, Harvey is expected to generate approximately $30 million in annual gaming taxes for the State of Louisiana and another $8 million for Jefferson Parish. Penn National Gaming has committed to paying the same 6% local tax rate to Jefferson Parish and its towns and cities as the existing riverboat does. Construction of the project’s first phase is expected to create over 1,000 construction jobs in Louisiana, most of which will be in the New Orleans metro area. Once in operation, Hollywood Casino, Harvey expects to hire approximately 600 permanent positions in the first phase alone.

About Penn National Gaming

Penn National Gaming owns, operates or has ownership interests in gaming and racing facilities with a focus on slot machine entertainment. The Company presently operates twenty-three facilities in sixteen jurisdictions, including Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ontario. In aggregate, Penn National's operated facilities feature over 27,500 gaming machines, over 500 table games, over 2,000 hotel rooms and over 1 million square feet of gaming floor space.

Penn National Gaming recently opened Maryland’s first casino and added table games to its facilities in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Through a joint venture, Penn National is developing a full casino at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, which is anticipated to open in the first half of 2012, and is also developing casinos in Toledo and Columbus, Ohio, with openings targeted for 2012. The Company recently agreed to establish a joint venture (subject to final approval by the Texas Racing Commission and the satisfaction of certain other closing conditions) to own and operate pari-mutuel operations in Texas, including the Sam Houston Race Park in Houston, the Valley Race Park in Harlingen, and a planned racetrack in Laredo.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may vary materially from expectations. Although Penn National Gaming, Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company”) believe that our expectations are based on reasonable assumptions within the bounds of our knowledge of our business and operations, there can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from our expectations. Meaningful factors that could cause actual results to differ from expectations include, but are not limited to, risks related to the following: our ability to receive regulatory approvals for our proposed new businesses and to maintain regulatory approvals for our existing businesses; the passage of state, federal or local legislation (including referenda) that would expand, restrict, further tax, prevent or negatively impact operations in the jurisdictions in which we do business (such as a smoking ban at any of our facilities) or in jurisdictions where we seek to do business; the activities of our competitors and the emergence of new competitors; increases in the effective rate of taxation at any of our properties or at the corporate level; delays or changes to, or cancellations of, planned capital projects at our gaming and pari-mutuel facilities or an inability to achieve the expected returns from such projects; construction factors, including delays, unexpected remediation costs, local opposition and increased cost of labor and materials; the ability to recover proceeds on significant insurance claims; our ability to identify attractive acquisition and development opportunities and to agree to terms with partners for such transactions; the costs and risks involved in the pursuit of such opportunities and our ability to complete the acquisition or development of, and achieve the expected returns from such opportunities; the availability and cost of financing; the maintenance of agreements with our horsemen, pari-mutuel clerks and other organized labor groups; the outcome of pending legal proceedings; the effects of local and national economic, credit, capital market, housing, energy conditions on the economy in general and on the gaming and lodging industries in particular; changes in accounting standards; third-party relations and approvals; our dependence on key personnel; the impact of terrorism and other international hostilities; the impact of weather; and other factors as discussed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K as filed with the SEC. The Company does not intend to update publicly any forward-looking statements except as required by law.

Penn National Gaming, Inc.Karen Bailey, 610-401-2914
Director of Public Affairs
karen.bailey@pngaming.com
www.hollywoodcasinoharvey.com
or
TBC, Inc.Brent Burkhardt, 410-986-1303
bburkhardt@tbc.us

Source: Penn National Gaming, Inc.